Chapter 172: The Ascended Wizard
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 172: The Ascended Wizard
An Ascended Wizard gains two powerful status effects.
First, a buff to their Wisdom stat.
The Wisdom stat, which determines the power of their magic, temporarily skyrockets to a level worthy of the name "ascended."
The result of this was…
“Scorching Ray.”
Even a simple Tier 2 spell was on a completely different scale.
Normally, it was a spell that incinerated a target with a laser the thickness of a human wrist, but now, it was like a cathedral pillar had erupted.
“Insane.”
Despite having perfectly read the angle of the staff, the tip of the Dagger Raptor's wing was scorched because the beam's range was far beyond its expectations.
The blade feathers melted where they touched the ultra-hot laser.
But it hadn't hit its body. The Dagger Raptor flew at high speed, and though Meldini swung his staff, chasing it furiously, he couldn't land a hit.
Rumble!
Instead, the beam just scraped across the ground, following its trajectory.
The university garden's lawn turned into a sea of fire where the Scorching Ray passed.
Fwoom!
The wall of the research building melted where the flames touched it. An ornament on the west tower was severed at its joint by the laser and fell away.
“That’s no different from a dragon’s breath.”
The Dagger Raptor moved behind the shattered ornament, dodging the flames.
And the moment the laser died down.
Thump.
The Inter-floor Lord landed on the rooftop, gripping the railing with its sharp talons.
‘Dive.’
The moment it kicked off the railing, the 80-meter distance between the monster and the professor vanished.
An instantaneous speed of 390 km/h.
The king of raptors dove with the speed of a peregrine falcon.
Even a highly perceptive and agile rogue or ranger would find it difficult to dodge.
A magic-user, especially an old man like Meldini, would meet the blade before he even realized what was happening.
Pow!
A battle between masters is decided in an instant.
A single blow can be fatal, so whoever strikes first seizes the advantage.
“I don’t know what would’ve happened if that laser had hit me.”
But in the end, the king of raptors struck first. A wizard should never face a fighter head-on. That’s common sense for any adventurer.
Its sharp blades sliced through the professor's neck. It felt the distinct sensation at the tip of its wing.
The Dagger Raptor sensed victory, but…
“Huh…?”
The professor wasn't dead.
His severed head was reattaching to his body as if two drops of water were merging.
And the professor's staff was aimed at the Dagger Raptor.
“Ethereal Explosion.”
The same spell that had killed Professor Clay. Unlike Scorching Ray, it was instantaneous. Like a dust explosion.
Its only drawback was its short range, but the Dagger Raptor had kindly closed the distance for him.
Boom!
Sapphire flames scattered in all directions.
CRASH!
The Dagger Raptor was slammed vertically into the ground by the force of the explosion.
“Kgh.”
But the monster wasn't dead.
“You dodged well.”
Meldini looked down with cold eyes.
Just before impact, the Dagger Raptor had twisted its body to avoid a fatal blow.
“I’m sure I cut off your head.”
It looked up at the professor with a bewildered expression.
“Is it because you’re in an ethereal state?”
An Ascended Wizard undergoes a massive transformation of their physical structure.
The second status effect the caster gains from the spell.
Their ethereal body is like a ghost's, allowing them to phase through all physical impacts.
‘Immunity to physical attacks.’
The wizard's greatest weakness was gone.
“Impossible…”
“Icicle Rush.”
Twelve icicles shot out from Meldini’s staff.
“How are those icicles?”
Things that should be called javelins, not icicles, rained down on the Dagger Raptor.
‘Scattering Blades.’
The Dagger Raptor launched a volley of blade feathers into the sky to defend itself as it flew up.
‘This is tough.’
It had barely managed to parry and dodge the icicles, but the situation was still grim.
Now I see Caleb was never the problem.
‘Meldini!’
That old man's power is monstrous. It's a wonder why this geezer isn't called an Archmage yet.
Fwoosh!
The Dagger Raptor spread its wings wide.
‘Scorching Ray.’
The moment the flames erupted from the staff.
‘Raptor Landing.’
The Dagger Raptor's body teleported, appearing right above Meldini's staff.
‘Even if he's immune to physical strikes, there must be exceptions. For example…’
Its twenty-centimeter-long, curved, razor-sharp talons aimed precisely at their target.
‘…the wrist holding the staff.’
*
A bird of prey must be able to seize and tear its prey with its talons.
That's why birds that hunt with their beaks, like crows or shrikes, are not considered raptors.
The Dagger Raptor's true power came not from its blade feathers, but from its talons.
CRUNCH!
Meldini's hand was shattered in a single blow. Though the Legendary-grade staff was too difficult to destroy and wasn't even scratched, his wrist and fingers were torn to shreds, into six or seven pieces.
The fact that he was ‘holding’ the staff had to mean that at least his hand was exerting physical force, right?
Which meant it should be possible to damage…
“What.”
The torn ethereal fingers and wrist were reattaching.
No.
Before they even reattached, the fragments of his fingers were moving the staff, adjusting its aim.
“What the fuck…”
“Ethereal Explosion.”
It was the same as before.
Once again, the powerful ethereal energy exploded, and the Dagger Raptor was slammed into the ground.
“Foolish creature.”
The professor’s body slowly descended to the ground.
“Did you think a human hand was holding this staff?”
Some wizards can manipulate a wand from a distance with their superhuman mental power. Blessed, born wizards like Caleb.
It was similar to that.
In an ethereal state, there is no such thing as physical force.
The hand holding the staff was Meldini's mental power itself. It merely took the shape of a human hand.
“You’re a monster.”
The Dagger Raptor let out a laugh at the professor’s absurd power.
“You’re also quite good at dodging.”
I've hit you with Ethereal Explosion twice, yet you've miraculously avoided a fatal wound both times.
This time, however, a black smoke-like substance rippled around it.
It must have used an evasion skill.
Even a veteran professor like Meldini didn't know what it was.
In that case…
“I'll use a spell you can't dodge.”
“As if something like that exi—”
The Dagger Raptor's expression froze as it spotted something over the floating professor's shoulder.
An undodgeable spell did exist.
“Fuck.”
“Destructive Toll.”
A bell tolled.
What poured down was a fatal chime that struck the mind directly.
Piiiiii—
Overcome by extreme vertigo, the Dagger Raptor collapsed. Blood trickled from its ears.
“…”
The professor was saying something.
It couldn't hear his voice. Its eardrums had burst.
It could only see the shape of his lips.
“I will leave only the parts of you that you left of Brillin's corpse.”
The tip of the staff aimed for the raptor's heart.
*
“I found it!”
Yernil pulled out a spellbook.
It was the Tier 3 spellbook the librarian said would be in stock by this morning.
“Give it here!”
I'd been waiting for this spellbook since before the fight with the Glutton.
[Spellbook: Enchanting]
For reference, Meldini's Toll is also classified as an Enchanting spell when used as an alert type, since it grants detection abilities to all who hear it.
Tier 3 Enchanting magic is far less powerful than the Toll, but it's much more versatile.
“Find the Tier 4 spellbook, too!”
My Tier 2 binding magic, ‘Magic Circle,’ was still far from complete in terms of its build.
Compared to the Cumulonimbus build, it was probably at the Dust Explosion stage.
It was somewhat useful as a one-shot spell, but the reason I registered spells like Hot Wind and Carbon Dust was to bind them into Cumulonimbus.
It was similar to that.
Magic Circle was just the beginning.
But Enchanting alone wasn't enough.
“Please find the Tier 4 spellbook.”
I asked the others and opened the Enchanting spellbook.
Because I had to read it aloud.
“All language is the beginning of magic. To those outside the Labyrinth, language is permitted. By the power of words…”
This was the process of learning a spell. In the game, you'd just ‘double-click’ it, but here, it took time.
“Tie a knot in the arcane with words. Grant power to sword, arrow, and staff…”
Just like when crafting a scroll, the letters in the spellbook began to glow white and transfer to my memory book.
BOOM!
A loud explosion sounded from outside.
“I don't have time to be looking for spellbooks in here,” Isel said.
She had protected our party with defensive magic on the way to the bookstore.
From the Dagger Raptor's falling feathers and Meldini's lightning.
But we were fine now. The inside of the bookstore was relatively safe.
Isel wasn't the kind of fighter who should be stuck here rummaging through spellbooks.
“I'm going to support Professor Meldini.”
“…so that your mind may intervene whenever your friends' weapons draw the blood of your enemies…”
I focused on reading the spellbook and just nodded at Isel.
A sign that she could go.
“If I survive this, I will confess all my wrongdoings. And…”
Isel gripped her wand tightly.
“I want to take Caleb on as my graduate student.”
Says who!
“Though I think I'd be the one learning more.”
Isel dashed outside.
[Enchanting Learned]
I began binding the magic.
[Grimoire of Tanjin, Sokgi, and Enchanting Binding Acquired]
『Grimoire of the Transformation Magic Circle』
“But Caleb,” Aimus asked while searching the shelves.
“Are we really sure we can help the professor…?”
Back Attack seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“Looks like that old man is about to pluck all of that raptor bastard's talons by himself.”
Hmm.
Yeah, the Ascended Wizard is a seriously OP build.
A huge Wisdom boost and physical damage immunity.
I used it a lot when I played the game, too.
In the early game, at least.
I abandoned the build on higher difficulties because it had two fatal flaws.
First of all.
‘It still takes full magic damage.’
Even with physical damage immunity, it's useless if the physical attack is imbued with magic damage.
For example, say Back Attack stabs him from behind. The dagger's damage won't go through, but the necrotic damage from the Hood of Flank Necrosis will, and so will any fire damage from the dagger.
In the Deep Layers, it's common for even regular field monsters to have magic imbued in their attacks, so getting hit once still means taking critical damage.
Besides, the Labyrinth Master is a wizard type.
Physical damage immunity is pretty much useless against a Labyrinth Master.
And the second flaw.
This is the real problem. Because the Ascended Wizard contains too much power for a human body, it induces the ‘Debilitation’ status effect over time.
For Meldini to beat the Dagger Raptor, he has to finish it before the ascended state wears off, but… I don't know.
Will it go down that easily?
Honestly, the fact that I managed to kill it in the scroll warehouse was a stroke of luck, a one-in-a-million chance that only happened because the Dagger Raptor was incredibly careless.
Hitting it with the Curse of Moisture Absorption, exposing it to rainwater for a long time to inflict the Wet status, and then trapping it in an ice cloud to seal its movements… it was nothing short of a miracle.
Even then, I wouldn't have been able to kill it without all those scrolls.
Meldini is an excellent wizard, and there's the variable of Isilof, plus Isel is about to join the fight, but…
‘I still have a bad feeling about this.’
“Found it!”
Yernil jumped up, holding another spellbook.
[Spellbook: Siphoning Bleed]